The National Motorsports Press Association award-winning online home of Dave "The Godfather" Moody.

Thursday, April 02, 2015

Larson Says, "I Feel Fine" After Fainting Scare

Kyle
Larson met with the media today, shortly after being cleared by doctors to return
to competition after a mysterious fainting spell last Saturday afternoon at
Martinsville Speedway.

“I
feel great right now,” said Larson, who did not compete in Sunday’s STP 500. “I
felt perfectly fine shortly after I fainted. I had to get a lot of tests
run on me to make sure nothing serious was wrong with me, and all the tests
came back negative. The whole time I felt fine, and hated it that I
couldn't race (last) weekend in the Target Chevy. But Regan (Smith) did a
really good job, and I’ve just got to thank all the doctors and nurses for how
thorough they were with me.

Larson
recalled the circumstance surrounding his fainting spell, saying, “I felt fine
before we went to the autograph session. I got to the end of it, and I was
talking to just one more fan, the last person there. I just started getting
light‑headed, then tried to lean forward and see if that fixed it.

“And
then I passed out.”

While
doctors have still not provided a definitive diagnosis, Larson said all parties
agree that dehydration is the most likely culprit.

“It was kind of a weird morning,” admitted
Larson. “I was almost late to practice, so I rushed myself… and didn't take
very good care of myself throughout the day. I ended up dehydrating
myself. I’ve just got to do a better job of taking care of myself, and
that should never happen again.”

The
Chip Ganassi Racing driver admitted being nervous while undergoing an
exhaustive battery of tests, adding, “Any time you're in a hospital, you get
nervous. I don't know what specific things they tested me for, but I had stuff
hooked up to me from my head to my toes. Probably the only test they didn't get
in there was a math test.”

At
the end of it all, Larson expressed confidence that with more attention to
proper hydration in the future, there should be no repeat of last weekend’s
situation.

“It
sucks any time you can't race, but I was happy that they were taking the time
to make sure there wasn't anything major wrong,” he said. “I guess if there's a
race you've got to miss, Martinsville is my least favorite track. But I would have
loved to have been there. We had a really good car all weekend, but in the
end, Regan did a really good job for our Target team."